U.S. Sen. Todd
Young, R-Ind., is urging Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to make “a
comprehensive diplomatic effort” to save millions of people in Africa from
imminent starvation.

In a bipartisan
letter delivered to Tillerson--signed by other members of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee--Young detailed “the dire conditions” in northeastern
Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen which are “preventing humanitarian
aid from being delivered” and imperiling as many as 20 million people.

“The scale and
complexity of these crises might lead some to say the situation is
hopeless,” the letter reads. “ We reject such a response as U.S. leadership
can make an enormous difference, and we believe the Department of State can
and should lead a diplomatic effort now to reduce the political barriers
that are hindering the delivery of food to millions of starving people. The
U.S. government has a strategic and moral imperative to do nothing less.”